Martin hosts The World Music Awards in Hollywood

Curtain-raisers:

• Have you ever wondered which of his dozens of films are Aga Muhlach’s top five favorites? They are, 1) Kung Ako na Lang Sana, his first and only film with Sharon Cuneta; 2) Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal, with Lea Salonga; 3) May Minamahal, with Aiko Melendez; 4) Kailangan Kita, with Claudine Barretto; and 5) Dahil May Isang Ikaw, with Regine Velasquez. The sixth? Of course, his latest, Star Cinema’s forthcoming romance-drama Dubai, also with Claudine.

• Have you noticed who "Rico" of the ABS-CBN reality-TV show Pinoy Big Brother looks like? Watch closely. Isn’t he a spitting image of Nap Gutierrez?

• Guiguinto, Bulacan, under the leadership of Mayor Ambrocio Cruz, will host this year’s Search for Lakambini & Lakan of Bulacan 2005 on Sept. 9 at the Municipal Athletic and Cultural Center. Twenty-three women and 20 men are competing. Iza Calzado and Bobby Yan will host the event. Featured performers are Robert Seña, Isay Alvarez, Faith Cuneta and Harry Santos.

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I just got this brief "flash" report from Funfare’s Hollywood DPA:

Guess whom I saw at the red carpet as host of The World Music Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on Aug. 31? Yes, no less than our very own Martin Nievera! I was so proud of him as I watched silently from the sidelines.

A quick text-check with Martin confirmed the good news.

According to Martin, he did host the show billed as On Tour, produced by Fox, after which he attended the awards night dinner with the bigwigs of such big TV shows as ET and Extra and networks like CNN, Fox, etc.

"How did I get to host the show?" asked Martin. "Well, I was guest on two episodes to promote Unforgettable, my recent show in Las Vegas. The Fox people must have liked what they saw, so they asked me to host On Tour."

Next week, Martin will be home for shows at SM Southmall (Sept. 10) and again fly to Guam for a show on Sept. 17 at the University of Guam. On Sept. 25, he’ll join ABS-CBN stars for the ASAP staging in Japan. And then, what?

"I go back to the States for my US concert tour produced by MaxiMedia," said Martin.

Oh well, hello then, Martin – and goodbye!

Meet Samantha Nicole Carvajal

If her Lola Inday (Badiday) could see her now, I’m sure she’d be very proud of her granddaughter Samantha Nicole Carvajal, 13, daughter of Inday’s son Ricky Carvajal.

Nicole once told her Lola Inday that she wanted to be in the limelight but Inday didn’t live to see Nicole realize her dream. Besides playing herself in her Lola Inday’s telestory, Nicole has appeared in other GMA shows such as Master Showman, Mel & Joey and Magpakailanman (The Wayda Cosme Story episode) where she co-starred with Jolina Magdangal.

Until recently, Nicole co-hosted the IBC 13 noontime show Chowtime Na! She wants to do more TV shows, commercials and modeling.

Good news for diabetic stars

Many showbiz people (Gary Valenciano, Marissa Sanchez, Johnny Delgado and Freddie Santos among them) suffer from diabetes that can easily damage body organs when not controlled and/or properly monitored. Diabetes experts recommend frequent blood-sugar testing. Funfare wants to share with these stars (and other diabetics) some good news.

Bayer, the leader in diabetes care research, introduces Ascensia Entrust blood glucose meter, the cheapest blood-sugar testing device (only P2,100 per unit) in the market, ideal for both home and clinic setting. Easy to use, Ascensia has finger-friendly test strips designed to get accurate results without annoying re-testing and with a memory button that recalls the 10 previous test results.

Ascensia is available at Mercury Drug stores. (For inquiries, you may call the distributor’s Manila office at 727-1521, Cebu office at 256-3243, Iloilo office at 509-5046 or Davao office at 224-3799.)

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